A Tight Pirate Ship
by effulgentcolors
Summary: Based on this tumblr prompt: Emma and Killian would adopt a few kids because of their own upbringings.


They had to jump through hoops for months to get Michael. Hours of waiting, filling out form after form after form, faking smiles, explaining that _yes, they wanted that child that everyone was doing their damnest to present to them as damaged goods_. At one point a social worker had been this close to giving Killian lip for the fact that he had one hand. Yeah, Emma had some trouble restraining herself from pulling a Regina on that one. At one point she had just broken down, yelling at him about how no wonder no one wanted her enough to go through all this.

Yet she knew it was worth every damn second the moment she saw her baby boy literally flying down the stairs, just a small backpack thrown haphazardly over his shoulder, when they had come not just to visit but to finally take him home. She would never forget Michael's face when he spotted them in the yard, when she crouched down and he ran into her open arms, when he beamed up at Killian and Liam, when he grabbed his new brother's little fingers when her husband kneeled down to hug him tight.

That's how Emma Swan ended up with four, count them_ four_, boys in her house. The look of compassion with just a twinge of apprehension on her mother's face when she came to visit three days after Michael had officially become Michael Jones would forever make Emma chuckle. Almost as much as the look of surprise with just a twinge of indignation when she had entered their house.

"Our place doesn't look like that!" Snow exclaimed, turning around in a circle. "And I have only two kids and one of them doesn't even live with us."

Emma smiled at her mother, at the fact that she'd never say 'and I have only one kid', would never forget about her even if she was far past her 'kid' years.

"That's probably why," grinned the blonde. "You can let one little guy wreck havoc, two if you count dad. But you let all four of my monsters loose and you'll never know what hit you."

"So how do you manage it?"

Emma almost wanted to lie, just so that she could keep that awed look on the brunette's face. Beating Snow White for Mom of the Year was no small feat. Sadly, she couldn't really take the credit for her pristine house.

"I don't," she sighed, moving into the kitchen to get started on the hot cocoa. "Killian's the one who runs a tight ship around here. _'And that includes your shoes as well, Swan'_."

Snow's eyebrow rivaled her son-in-law's and Emma shook her head, laughing despite herself.

"It's true. They're already like little sailors. I swear it's a competition of who would get up on time and brush his teeth first and get to help Killian with breakfast."

Emma turned around, leaning on the counter as she waited for the milk.

"You know how you think kids, boys especially, are naturally messy? Turns out they are the way you teach them to be."

The door burst open in that moment, effectively cutting off whatever Snow's proud and suspiciously misty look had been leading up to.

"Granma, hey!" Henry smiled brightly at Snow but refrained from hugging her, making Emma promptly roll her eyes.

_Teenagers._

"Hey, Henry! Your grandfather will be here in an hour and he said he was gonna leave Neal with us and take you riding."

"Cool! I'll get ready," and with that, dropping the bags he was carrying right in the middle of the living room, Henry proceeded to take the stairs two at a time.

"Hello to you too, kid," Emma called sarcastically, receiving a distracted 'hey, mom' from somewhere in the distance.

Liam on the other hand was more than happy to hobble over to his grandmother and wrap his little arms around her.

"Ah, look at you running around," beamed Snow, bending down to pick up the grinning toddler. "Have you guys been having fun?"

"We went hoppin'?" exclaimed Liam, obviously terribly proud of himself.

"You went… hoppin'?" repeated Snow, glancing at Killian.

"You took them shopping with you again?!" exclaimed Emma, well acquainted with her boy's lingo. "How? Seriously, Killian, how do you handle a teenager, a toddler and a five-year-old ball of energy in a supermarket?"

Her husband grinned smugly at her, bending down to deposit his own cargo.

" And the 'junk food' in here is limited to two packets of popcorn and some cookie dough," he declared proudly while pointing at the brown bags at his feet. "And Liam wanted to pick 'the green stuff' so it is in no way my fault we're cooking zucchini tonight.

"Unbelievable," Emma shook her head, before focusing her eyes on the five-year-old ball of energy that was still standing uncertainly by the door. "Mickey? Baby, are you ok?"

The little boy's big green eyes were glued to Snow, who was looking back over the top of Liam's head with a soft smile on her face. He gulped a little, glancing at his mother before quickly shuffling over to wrap his arms around his father's legs, burying his nose in the denim.

Killian glanced down at his son in surprise before he noticed the way he was observing the new person in the room.

"Michael?" Killian turned around, effectively blocking Snow from his son's view and kneeling down so that they could be at the same eye-level.

"Is she here to take me away?" the boy asked, his lower lip beginning to tremble despite his best efforts.

"_What_?!" Killian's eyes widened and his arms immediately snuck around the little child, pulling him towards him. "No. _Of course_, not. Michael, she is your grandma and she couldn't be more excited to meet you."

The captain glanced over his shoulder, receiving an encouraging smile as Snow set Liam back down and took a tentative step forward. Michael peaked around his father, his little brow still scrunched up as he observed the stranger carefully.

"She is?"

"I really, really am," smiled the brunette softly. "I even brought you a present. Might mess up with your dad's limit on junk food a little but I'm sure we can get away with it."

A hesitant smile started to blossom on the boy's face and he made to move towards Snow when Killian's hand stopped him, turning him around to face him.

"Hey," he looked deep into his son's eyes, face a mask of sincerity. "No one is _ever_ going to come and take you away, alright? Not now, not ever. We're a family, lad. We're not gonna let anyone separate us? Understood?"

"Aye, aye," exclaimed Michael, throwing his arms around Killian's neck.

/

"You know I've always wanted a little girl to spoil rotten?"

Emma breath hitched as she felt her husband's voice rumble beneath her ear, her heart squeezing sweetly at the mere thought.

"Is that your new way of asking for sex?" she joked weakly, before lifting herself off his chest and facing him.

"I don't remember ever having to ask for sex, Swan," Killian grinned up at her.

"Jones," she corrected distractedly as she let her fingers tease through the hair on his chest, mind running in all directions. "You want another kid?"

"Not if you don't."

"It's not that I don't. I just… you're amazing with the kids, sensational really but I'm…"

"Emma," she felt his warm hand cup her chin and lift her gaze up to his. "You're a wonderful mother."

"Maybe. But I don't think I can be that and keep them from demolishing the house at the same time."

"Of course, you can," came the immediate reply, Killian obviously trying to keep from laughing at her pout.

"Yeah? Why don't you try leaving me all alone with them for a week?"

"I will," he smirked at her.

"What?"

"David, Henry and I are going fishing for a few days next week. Did I not mention that?"

"No, you did not," she replied dryly, glaring down at her husband.

"Imagine that. Well, I'm mentioning it now," he declared before softening his tone. "That okay?"

"Sure," Emma sighed. "You're taking the teenage tantrums with you, I can handle the bite sized ones."

Killian's chuckle reverberated into her skin as he pulled her back down into his side.

"You wanna adopt her, don't you?" she whispered eventually, feeling his hand still for just a second against her hip.

"Can't you feel it? That little girl with scrapped knees and curls in disarray? Just waiting for us."

Of course she could. She just wasn't sure if it was a vision of their daughter or a memory.

"You're not gonna be able to keep _her_ in check."

"Oh, I don't doubt that for a second."

"And she's gonna rile up the boys too. So much for your tightly run ship."

"We're not a merchant's vessel, love, we are a pirate ship. What's a pirate ship without some chaos?"

Emma hummed under her breath, pressing her lips against his collarbone, legs coming to tangle with his.

"I'll start making calls tomorrow."

"Yeah?" Killian lifted himself up a little, staring down at her with a mixture of surprise and awe.

"Yeah," she smiled, lifting her head to brush her lips against his. "I love you."

"Love you too. Till the end of the world."

Emma shifted around so that she was lying right on top of her pirate, hand slowly trailing down between them.

"Until then… how about we start working on this front too?" she said with a coy smile, heartbeat quickening just at the thought.

God, their house was gonna turn into a circus. And she fucking loved it.

Killian seemed to come to the same conclusion as he lifted a disbelieving eyebrow at her, unsuccessfully trying to hold back his elated smile.

"You sure you can handle it?"

"I'm sure we can."


End file.
